Sacrifice
by Amberzlove
Summary: Kind of a sequel to my story "Revelations." A choice is made and a brother regrets nothing.


Sacrifice

Based on 2012 TMNT.

Kind of a sequel to "Revelations." You can read this on its own, but I would suggest reading the first story to see how I altered canon a little.

I own nothing.

He shuddered as he closed the door to his bedroom behind him. Too close. That had been too close. That creature…that thing nearly drained the life from his brothers. Never! He fought, but there was no fighting a creature with no substance and so he struck a deal.

"My job," he thought as the floor rushed to meet him as his strength left him, "Got to keep them safe. Wish I could stay. Wish."

The words of the demon echoed through his mind.

"_Your life force in exchange for your brothers. You will slowly die as I empty you of your soul. You cannot say a word to your brothers about your sacrifice or the deal is off. You have until midnight to be able to spend your last hour with your family."_

"Won't even hint. I was able to see them home at least," he murmured as cold invaded his being and he looked to the clock on the wall, "Thirty minutes. Wish Master Splinter had been wake so I could have seen him one last time. Can't wake him. He'd know then. Protect."

Cold floor. Cold skin. Slowing heart and gasping breathes. Numbing pain. Not how he wanted to go out. Thought he would leave the world in an epic battle, but life is as life goes. Brothers safe. Leaving is okay as long as brothers safe.

"No tears," he hissed to himself as the crystal droplets fell despite his words, "You are ninja. Let go. Be at peace. You've done your job."

"Hey, Guys!" he heard Donnie yelling, "I found what that thing was."

"What was it?" Mikey chirped from nearby.

"Where is Leo?" Donnie asked as stomping erupted from behind the door.

"Fearless, went ta his room sayin' he was tired," Raph mutter right at the door which brought a lifting of his lips to hear his twin, "I guess he needed sleep after he battled that creature when we were out like a bunch of pansies. What was that thing?"

"That was a succubi demon," he heard Donnie explained as the shudders got worse, "They suck life energy to live. Says here in the book that succubi only feed every hundred years and must either take their victims by surprise or strike a deal for a sacrifice."

"Dude, so that thing is kinda like a vampire," Mikey groaned, "_Ew_! I'm glad that Leo defeated it. I don't want to be demon food."

"Give me that book," Raph snarled and he heard Donnie fussing before silence reigned for a moment, "This says that tha demon thingie has no tangible body. That's why our attacks were ineffectual and it knocked us out."

"What does 'no tangible body' mean?" Mikey asked.

"Means that we can see the succubi, but we can't touch it," Donnie instructed.

"How tha shell did my twin defeat somethin' he couldn't touch?" Raph growled to himself.

He groaned softly. He hadn't wanted his brothers to know. He had wanted to be able to slip away quietly so his little brothers wouldn't suffer any more than they already would when they discovered his body. Damn, Raph, stop using that mind of yours.

"What are you saying, Raphael?" Donnie blurted as he heard the note of panic creeping into the voice.

"Why are we alive?" Raph demanded, "We was taken by surprise so we should be succubi kibble. Book says, 'or strike a deal for a sacrifice.' A sacrifice? Oh, _fuck_! Fearless!"

He closed his eyes as the pounding footsteps could be heard coming towards the door. The door slammed open and he heard his name being shouted. He was flipped over and he felt hands ghosting over his body checking for injuries as fingers wiped at the tears still on his cheeks.

"Leo!" Raph snapped as he was leaned against a muscular shoulder, "Thing One, what tha _fuck_ did ya do? Open your eyes, dammit!"

Moaning, he did as he was instructed and looked up at his red-banded twin. Should have known that the biggest pain-in-his-butt brother would be the one that would put the pieces together the fastest just to upend his hopes of a peaceful passing.

"Leo?" Mikey sniffled as the weakened turtle moved his eyes to look at his crying, baby brother, "Donnie, he's ice cold. What's wrong with Leo?"

He shuddered again as the cold grew within him. Donnie checked his life signs frantically and shook his head.

"There is nothing physically wrong with him!" he heard his gentlest brother growl before forcing the ailing turtle's head around to look into his eyes, "Leo, tell us what has happened. What deal did you strike? Answer me!"

He looked into those chocolate orbs as his body began to tremble. Nothing you can do, Don. Let me go. He closed his eyes only to be shaken.

"Open ya eyes, Fearless!" Raph gritted out as he looked up into furious emerald, "Stay with us!"

He felt a blanket draped over his body. Familiar hands grabbed his and he tried to smile at his baby brother. He looked back up into emerald eyes as his muscles began to twitch and convulse.

"C-can't, Thing T-two" he whispered brokenly using his twin's newest nickname, "I'm…s-sorry."

"Mikey, go get me that damn book!" Donnie yelled as he held down the convulsing turtle, "Hurry! Leo, I'm going to figure this out! Hang on!"

The voices grew quieter as he looked to the clock on the wall. It was a quarter till midnight. A hand turned his head and again he looked into his brother's face.

"What are ya lookin' at, Leo?" Raph demanded as he looked and saw the clock, "Why ya need ta know tha time? Answer me!"

"Miss you," he sighed even as his twin hugged him tighter, "All. Miss…y-you all."

He heard Raph shouting as Mikey dashed back into the room with the book in his hands. Closing his eyes, he allowed himself to float away.

"Hello, Turtle," a voice floated to his ears and he opened his eyes to see darkness surrounding him and the demon, "How nice of you to uphold your end of the deal."

"Save it, Leech," he snapped as the astral projection of his soul straightened proudly, "I would do anything to keep you away from my family. Get this over with."

"It has been so long since I've fed on a Sacrifice," the demon howled joyfully, "Stupid, honorable souls are the most delicious. I never understood Sacrifices. Why would you give yourself up for brothers that fight your every action? Hardly seems worth the efforts of saving them."

"A creature with no heart would never understand," he whispered as he sighed, "Donnie, Raph, and Mikey are my brothers and anything is worth doing to save their lives. _Anything_!"

He gasped as dark tendrils snatched him up and he was jerked up face to face with the succubi.

"Family?" the demon scoffed, "Families are highly overrated. They drag a person down with their own silly, little viewpoints and demand respect without earning any. Family sucks you dry faster than I can suck out a soul."

He screamed in agony as he felt some of his life energy pulled forcefully from his body.

"Family makes you lose your own sense of self," the demon continued as it's victim shuddered within it's grasp, "You abide by rules that are not your own. You change your person to be who family wants you to be. You rely on family only to be let down again and again."

His screams deafened him for a moment as more of his life force was jerked from his soul. He hung limply in the tendrils of darkness as he panted in pain.

"Family is warmth and a place to belong," he ground out, "A family is where you can grow and develop into the person you choose to be. Family is a place to be challenged so that you can test what you are and continue to grow and change. Family is a place of love."

"Love?' Ha!" the demon gloated, "There is no such thing."

"You're wrong," he whispered as the light of his soul dimmed from the draining of his life force, "I love my brothers and they…they l-love me."

"Yet here you are alone as I kill you," the demon laughed before hissing as light flooded the darkness.

"Get tha _fuck_ away from my twin brother, Asshole!" was heard as red light streamed forward and burnt the demon.

The succubi screamed and he felt himself falling even as warm arms encircled his icy body.

"I got ya, Leo," Raph gritted out as he kneeled cradling his twin in his arms, "We're here now. Ya safe."

A purple light flooded more of the darkness and he looked up to see the astral projection of Donnie appear in front of them with his bo staff raised.

"You will never touch Leo again," Donnie hissed as the demon chuckled before howling when another warm light shot through the darkness and Mikey appeared with nunchuks swinging.

"My brother is not demon kibble, Dude!" our baby brother yelled, "We aren't going to let you take him from us!"

"The deal was struck," the demon cackled as his darkness fought against the light, "His soul is mine."

"Only if ya can get ta him before midnight. We know tha truth," Raph growled as he stood with his twin in his arms, "We ain't goin' ta allow that ta happen. In our world ya are intangible, but here we can fight ya."

"Your weapons can do no harm to me," the demon gloated as it's tendrils reached again for the weakened turtle before snarling when a white light pushed against him.

"You will never touch my child again," Master Splinter stated with deadly calm as he kneeled and allowed Raph to lean his limp son against him, "Leonardo is not a Sacrifice that you will ever have. I heard the misinformation you were spewing to my son. Family and love is very real and you know this because that is the purest light that can snuff your existence out."

"Bullshit!" the demon denied before shrieking as the combined light of the family pushed it further away.

He looked up at his brothers and flitted his eyes to his Father. They were so determined, but the deal had been struck.

"No," he moaned as he tried to rise even as his Father hugged him close, "I-t'll hurt you. D-don't. Go back."

"It's okay, Leo," Donnie offered as he looked over his shoulder, "You protected us before and now we are going to protect you. The succubi can only have you unless pure light defeats the darkness and we have a bit of a secret weapon."

He blinked at his younger brother in confusion. Secret weapon?

"Michelangelo. Raphael," Sensei called as my two brothers looked over, "End this."

He watched in shock as Raph's and Mikey's lights flared bright enough to blind. Red fire and bright sunshine seemed to pour into every part of the void. He looked and saw that Donnie's purple light was keeping him and their Father shielded as the demon shrieked within the brightness.

"The Sacrifice is mine!" the creature howled, "He is connected to me!"

He felt the demon's tug and screamed as he arched in pain while more of his life force was jerked from his body. Father and Donnie yelled his name as he convulsed.

"I will have him!" the succubi called in triumph only to hiss as fire blazed up brightly around him even as sunlight grew even stronger.

"He is ours!" Raph's voice hollered back as the fire increased in strength, "But more importantly, he is _mine_! Leo and I are twins and ya cannot break tha connection we have no matter how hard ya try!"

Gasping, he felt his twin within his very soul slashing with his sais at the darkness that had wrapped itself around his being. Since they had discovered their connection several weeks ago the bond had only grown stronger between the twins despite how different the two were.

"Get tha fuck out of my brother!" Raphael screamed as the death throes of the succubi rang from the light.

He felt the connection to the succubi fade and then knew no more.

OOOO

"Is Leo going to wake up soon?" he heard the sad voice of his baby brother and became aware that he was warm and in a bed.

"I don't know, Mikey," Donnie sighed from nearby, "The succubi nearly drained him of all of his life force. I don't have to tell you how close we came to losing Leo, do I?"

"Fearless has been unconscious for like two weeks, Don," Raph snapped as he felt his twin squeeze the hand he was holding, "If I could enter his soul ta free him of tha demon, why can't I like share my life force with him or somethin'?"

He tried to open his eyes to reassure his brothers, but he was too weak to get his body to cooperate.

"Master Splinter said that it would take a bit of time for Leo to develop enough life force to be able to wake up, but I never thought of you trying to share any with him," he heard Donnie state, "Wouldn't hurt. Try it."

He felt a hand rest on his chest and then nothing. It took him by surprise when the burst of warm heat flashed through his system and he arched as pain flared.

"Leo," Raph called.

He panted for a moment before fluttering his eyes open and focusing on his twin.

"Thank, God," Raph breathed before growling and pointing a finger angrily, "Thing One, I am goin' ta kick your ass when ya get out of this bed so bad that ya head is goin' ta spin!"

Raph grunted as he was shoved away as Mikey threw himself around the weakened turtle.

"Leo, I am so glad to see those blue eyes," Mikey wailed as his head cuddled into the crook of his big brother's neck, "I'm so happy to see you awake. I'm also really, really mad at you. I'm mad at you, _Leo_!"

It hurt to move, but he nodded as the tears ran from his eyes. His brothers could be angry, but he reveled in the fact that they were alive and well.

"Monster, h-hurts," he whispered as Mikey instantly let go and looked horrified, "Hi."

"Hi," the orange-banded turtle echoed back as he swiped at his eyes.

"Mikey, you need to be careful of the IV line that Leo has right now. He needs the fluids and nutrients so be careful. And you, Leo, you and I are so having a long conversation later," Donnie informed me as he wiped the tears from my cheeks, "Do you know how scared we were when we found you in your room, Leo? You were ice cold and beginning to be drained dry by the succubi demon."

"N-no choice," he offered as his brothers frowned angrily, "Given choice...me or you guys. Chose you to live. No r-regret."

"I'm goin' ta make ya regret," his twin grumbled before locking their eyes, "Donnie figured out tha deal and Father helped us reach tha void. We are all damn lucky that first of all our souls are bright enough ta take tha demon by surprise and second of all, that Mikey's light is based in sunshine and mine in fire. Sensei said Mike and I have tha brightest elements ta combat darkness."

"You…here inside," he breathed as he weakly tapped on his plastron.

"I told you we had a secret weapon," Donnie laughed, "That succubi didn't stand a chance since you have a twin which allowed Raph to enter your mind through the connection you two share. Plus, Raph is a demon in his own right and ripped the thing apart from within."

He nodded as Raph grinned, but then shivered as weariness pulled at him.

"Leo?" Mikey squeaked fearfully as Donnie and Raph looked down in concern.

The brothers all jumped when their father entered the room and placed another blanket over the ailing turtle.

"Raphael, you cannot share your energy with your twin before being trained properly," Master Splinter gently explained, "The energy you shared was just enough to wake him, but not enough to sustain his weakened soul. It will take you time to be able to learn how to siphon the correct energies to assist a weakened teammate. You have woken Leonardo too soon. Your brother needs to rest to repair the damage that the demon inflicted."

"W-worried," he whispered as he gestured to his twin.

"Still protecting, Child," Father sighed as he sat next to the bed, "You are just as important as your brothers, Leonardo. Sometimes sacrifices must be made, but you are to do everything in your power to avoid this. I realize that the demon bound your words, but as family, we will fight together. I will find you if you leave us no matter where you are and spank you until you can't stand if you ever do this again, do you understand me?"

"Hai, S-sensei," he stuttered as his eyes closed and he felt himself grow even more weary.

"Go to sleep, my son, and allow our love and concern for you to help you heal," Master Splinter ordered as his eyes opened and he smiled at his father, "When you wake again in a few days your life energy will be stronger. It will take you time to rebuild your strength."

"We'll be waiting for you, Leo," Donnie tearfully said as he wiped at his eyes, "Love you, Bro."

"Get better soon so we can yell at you," Mikey chirped before hiding behind Donnie as Raph swiped at him, "Loves and kisses, Leo."

Raph squeezed his twin's hand again and he looked up at his brother and then closed his eyes to drift back to sleep.

"Love ya, Thing One," Raph whispered into my ear, "Ya still in a lot of trouble."

"Love b-back, Thing Two," he breathed just loud enough for his twin to hear as his brother's chuckles followed him into dreamland.

The end.


End file.
